UW Can't Overcome Ducks

Chris Fetters

02/19/2014

EUGENE - There may have been silver linings in Washington's 78-71 loss to Oregon Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena, but they were lost - literally. The Huskies racked up their seventh-straight road defeat, and while the fight was there the cutting edge needed to overcome their adversity away from home was sorely lacking once again.

Oregon (17-8, 5-8) relied on three scorers - Mike Moser, Joseph Young, and Damyean Dotson - to get UO Head Coach Dana Altman his 500th career win and Johnathan Loyd his 90th as a Duck.

After a Williams-Goss three-pointer with 31 seconds left in the first half - their only made three of the period - Oregon went on an extended 11-2 run over the next two and a half minutes.

The Huskies gamely battled back, and with two C.J. Wilcox free throws tied the game at 60 with 9:11 remaining. Wilcox went out early in the second half after going down hard on his tail bone, but finished the game after taking an extended break.

"We turned it over a couple of times early, missed a couple of defensive assignments - they got up right away," UW Head Coach Lorenzo Romar said post-game about the Huskies coming back after that early second half UO run. "But our guys weathered the storm unlike some other games we've played on the road where we kind of faded…I didn't think we faded tonight. Again, we were a few plays away from getting over the hump. But we didn't."

One of those plays took place with 5:50 left in the game. Wilcox broke free and found Williams-Goss, who was called for a charge on a play where he scored a basket off the glass. Instead of the game possibly being a three or four-point game, it remained a six-point contest.

"I thought that was a big, big play in the game - big, big play," Romar said. The UW Head Coach raced from his seat to confront the nearest official, but by then the call had been made and there was nothing he was going to do to change it. "It appeared to me that it was called the way it had been called in years' past. This year with the rule adjustment on the block/charge I just thought it might have been a block based on how the game was called earlier. It was a judgement call; those aren't easy calls to make. But that's what I thought I saw."

"It is what it is on the road, you can't expect…everything doesn't go our way anyway, so you have to go to the next play," added Blackwell.

Williams-Goss was able to get a layup with 2:34 remaining to bring the Huskies back to 73-70, the closest they had been to the Ducks since the 8:06 mark of the second half. But Oregon's Moser raced to the basket and Desmond Simmons, on his fourth foul, was called for his fifth as Moser's shot fell in. It didn't appear as if Simmons - two points off his season-high - even touched Moser, but that was the call.

It was a back-breaker, as the Huskies were down 76-70 after Moser's made free throw. UW battled hard on their next offensive possession, but could only muster a free throw from Blackwell after nearly 30 seconds elapsed.

The Ducks ran their shot clock all the way down and actually committed a shot clock violation, but by that time there was only 31 seconds remaining and the Huskies were still down five. UW found Mike Anderson open for a three, but his flat attempt skidded off the top of the rim and Oregon was able to corral the rebound and close the game out.

"We still have one more road game to try and figure it out, try and get at least two road wins for this season," Andrews said. "We're not giving up on the road, so we're going to come out against Oregon State and try and get the win."

"I hope we fight until the end and do whatever we have to do to win," added Blackwell when asked what he expects out of Washington's final four games of the season. "That's all I can hope for and I'm going to expect that out of the players just for me and it being my last four games here. We need that."
Statistics:Points: Blackwell 17, Andrews 15, Williams-Goss 12, Simmons 12, Wilcox 9, Johnson 5, Anderson 1Rebounds: TEAM 8, Andrews 7, Blackwell 5, Anderson 4, Simmons 3, Williams-Goss 3, Kemp 1, Wilcox 1, Johnson 1Assists: Williams-Goss 5, Wilcox 4, Andrews 2, Blackwell 1, Anderson 1Steals: Andrews 2, Williams-Goss 1, Wilcox 1, Blackwell 1Blocks: Blackwell 2